Get Up On: Quantum of Solace

Let me be really quick about this. This shouldn't take a whole lot of convincing on my part. I shouldn't have to work hard to convince you to do something that you already should know that you want to do.

But you should go see "Quantum of Solace" as soon as possible.
Preferably in a nice, large movie theater.

I saw it on Friday night and I had a BLAST! This is the James Bond movie that I've been waiting to see. After this, I am fully on board for the re-boot. Gone are the gadgets, the romances, the grotesque villains. The Bond movie is firmly rooted in the real world. And I like that. I would've thought that I would've missed those touchstones of the Bond franchise, but I didn't. (Well, to be totally honest, I was done with the romance of a new girl in every movie and the double entendre names of the characters had worn itself thin, too.)

When I saw "Casino Royale" I generally liked it, but it's hard to get excited about watching Bond play high stakes poker. He felt restrained by the plot. Like he could do more, but that movie didn't let him. "QOS" releases Bond out into the real world in a very big way.

Bond does not give a shit. If he wants your car, he will take your car. If he wants a boat, he will take the boat. If he wants to stop someone, he'll ram their car and pull them out of the wreckage. Maybe because so much of this plot is driven by his relentless rage and need for revenge, but this Bond uses blunt instruments. If it's quicker to kill a guy, than to torture them for information, then he'll kill them and move on. He leaves a tremendous body count behind him, in this movie. And he knows it. You can see him struggling with the consequences of his actions. Sure, a license to kill means that you can whack a bartender to get a drink, but the downside to that is that you can't really form any attachments, because everyone around you could be whacked at any time. (The bartender scenario is hypothetical and isn't in the movie.)

I think it's clear that this Bond movie owes a few nods to "The Bourne Identity". The plot rambles unpredictably, like a Bourne movie. The action sequences are brutal, fast and devoid of clunky setups to get to some crazy-ass, unbelievable death for a villain. But it's good to see the movie series that started it all, reclaim it's position at the top of the pile. It's good to see a Bond movie that feels like a Bond movie, again.

So, yes, well worth your 8.50 and that's not even counting the geek-gasm you get for seeing the first Star Trek trailer at the beginning of the movie. That movie already has my 10 bucks, too.

Happy to be in a movie theater again,
Mr.B


Welcome Back, Mr.Bond.